Phys.org news tagged with:cerebral cortexhttps://phys.org/
en-usPhys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine.Pigeons can discriminate both space and timePigeons aren't so bird-brained after all. New research at the University of Iowa shows that pigeons can discriminate the abstract concepts of space and time—and seem to use a different region of the brain than humans and primates to do so. In experiments, pigeons were shown on a computer screen a static horizontal line and had to judge its length or the amount of time it was visible to them. Pigeons judged longer lines to also have longer duration and judged lines longer in duration to also be longer in length.https://phys.org/news/2017-12-pigeons-discriminate-space.html
Plants & Animals Mon, 04 Dec 2017 12:00:04 ESTnews431593727Study finds dogs are brainier than catsThere's a new twist to the perennial argument about which is smarter, cats or dogs.https://phys.org/news/2017-11-dogs-brainier-cats.html
Plants & Animals Wed, 29 Nov 2017 13:16:00 ESTnews431183741On intelligenceDuring human evolution, our cerebral cortex increased in size in response to new environmental challenges. The cerebral cortex is the site of diverse processes, including visual perception and language acquisition. However, no accepted unitary theory of cortical function exists yet. One hypothesis is that there is an evolutionarily conserved neural circuit that implements a simple and flexible computation. This idea is known as the "canonical circuit." As Gary Marcus, Adam Marblestone, and Thomas Dean note in a perspective piece in Science, there is still no consensus about whether such a canonical circuit exists nearly four decades later. Researchers argue that there is little evidence that such a uniform structure can capture the diversity of cortical function in simple mammals.https://phys.org/news/2017-04-intelligence.html
Evolution Mon, 17 Apr 2017 08:40:01 ESTnews411634420Neural networks: Why larger brains are more susceptible to mental illnessesIn humans and other mammals, the cerebral cortex is responsible for sensory, motor, and cognitive functions. Understanding the organization of the neuronal networks in the cortex should provide insights into the computations that they carry out. A study publishing on July 21st in open access journal PLOS Biology shows that the global architecture of the cortical networks in primates (with large brains) and rodents (with small brains) is organized by common principles. Despite the overall network invariances, primate brains have much weaker long-distance connections, which could explain why large brains are more susceptible to certain mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer disease.https://phys.org/news/2016-07-neural-networks-larger-brains-susceptible.html
Evolution Thu, 21 Jul 2016 14:00:08 ESTnews388320017Modelling auditory systems of bats for information processing applicationsScientists have developed a neural network model of a bat's auditory system to understand how bats rapidly discriminate between signals from edible insects and surrounding background noise. The report by researchers at UEC, Tokyo is published Neural Processing Letters.https://phys.org/news/2016-06-auditory-applications.html
Other Tue, 07 Jun 2016 06:49:06 ESTnews384500935Discovery of stress-induced emotional fever in fishFish react emotionally to stress, indicating a degree of consciousness, a groundbreaking new study by scientists at the University of Stirling's Institute of Aquaculture has found.https://phys.org/news/2015-12-discovery-stress-induced-emotional-fever-fish.html
Ecology Mon, 07 Dec 2015 07:28:09 ESTnews368695677Scientists question the utility of mice to explore the foundations of vocal learningThe human language is unique in that we can refer to objects, events and ideas. The combination of syllables and words enables humans to generate an infinite number of expressions. An important prerequisite for language is the ability to imitate sounds, i.e. to store acquired acoustic information and to use this for one's own vocal production. Cortical structures in the brain play a crucial role in this. While songbirds and certain marine mammals are capable of such vocal learning, there is very little evidence for vocal learning in terrestrial mammals – not even in our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees. Nonhuman primate vocal production is largely restricted to an innate repertoire of sounds.https://phys.org/news/2015-03-scientists-mice-explore-foundations-vocal.html
Plants & Animals Fri, 06 Mar 2015 09:14:01 ESTnews344855635Silicon-based probe microstructure could underpin safer neural implantsNeural probe arrays are expected to significantly benefit the lives of amputees and people affected by spinal cord injuries or severe neuromotor diseases. By providing a direct route of communication between the brain and artificial limbs, these arrays record and stimulate neurons in the cerebral cortex.https://phys.org/news/2014-03-silicon-based-probe-microstructure-underpin-safer.html
Engineering Wed, 26 Mar 2014 10:00:01 ESTnews315044463Cerebral sensory development: Genetic programming versus environmental stimuliHiroshi Kawasaki and colleagues at Kanazawa University, Tokyo University, Tokyo Institute of Technology and Kumamoto University in Japan have identified how sensory map development is regulated in mice pups at birth, and the molecular signalling responsible.https://phys.org/news/2013-12-cerebral-sensory-genetic-environmental-stimuli.html
Cell & Microbiology Fri, 20 Dec 2013 08:40:01 ESTnews306750038Giving birth to new insights into brain development and diseaseEach one of us is the complex product of nature and nurture, genes and environment. They combine in a myriad of complex ways during embryonic and postnatal development to sculpt our brains and bodies.https://phys.org/news/2013-10-birth-insights-brain-disease.html
Cell & Microbiology Thu, 17 Oct 2013 09:59:05 ESTnews301222717Authentic brain waves improve driver securityOne-time entry authentication methods, such as passwords, iris scanners and fingerprint recognition are fine for simple entry whether to a protected building or a private web page. But, a continuous biometric system is needed in some circumstances such as authenticating drivers of vehicles carrying valuable commodities and money, and even public transport vehicles and taxis. Now, such a system based on scanning the driver's brain waves described in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Biometrics could make hijacks of such vehicles a thing of the past.https://phys.org/news/2013-09-authentic-brain-driver.html
Engineering Thu, 05 Sep 2013 11:17:24 ESTnews297598629Scientists find homolog of mammalian neocortex in bird brainA seemingly unique part of the human and mammalian brain is the neocortex, a layered structure on the outer surface of the organ where most higher-order processing is thought to occur. But new research at the University of Chicago has found the cells similar to those of the mammalian neocortex in the brains of birds, sitting in a vastly different anatomical structure.https://phys.org/news/2012-10-scientists-homolog-mammalian-neocortex-bird.html
Other Mon, 01 Oct 2012 15:00:23 ESTnews268309737